Deli Seven20 is situated in an office building at 720 Pete Rose Way. Here is Deli Seven20's Sweet Rubenski, a roast turkey sandwich with Swiss cheese, sweet chili slaw and pickles on rye, along with a spinach salad with arugula and red cabbage mix, blue cheese, red apple, grapes, red onion, pecans, chopped bacon and grilled chicken, and a side of chips. / The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

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There’s nothing more fun in a restaurant writer’s life than finding a great new place to eat that’s off the beaten track, hidden, or known only to a select group of people.

I’ve been specifically tracking these down lately, checking around corners, inside other businesses, or in suburban strip malls.

Sorry if any of the following are secrets you were hoping no one else would find, but you will have to learn to share.

Deli seven20

This office building deli has been open for almost six years, and I finally figured out how to have lunch there just last week. That’s how hidden this gem is.

To get there, you have to drive into the parking lot of the building on the corner of Pete Rose Way and Eggleston, park in a visitor’s spot, walk through the lobby and turn left. There you will find one of the best office-building lunch spots in town.

Owner Michelle Lightfoot used to be part of Poppie’s Deli, Downtown, which I could walk to anytime I had a craving for a ring dang doo. That’s one of their signature sandwiches: roast pork, gouda, roasted red pepper and sweet chili mayo on focaccia. The rest of the sandwiches are just as good. They also do salads, soups, and daily specials.

Holler Hops and Grill

You could easily miss or dismiss Holler Hops and Grill based on its tiny end space of a strip mall in Florence.

And even inside, you won’t immediately realize you’ve found a gem until you notice things like the 10 craft bar taps that come directly out of the wall of the walk-in. Then you will get the menu and see a list of 60 or 70 fine craft beers to choose from and a full-on menu.

And when the food came out, it was even better than I anticipated. I had the wedge salad, a particularly excellent version, with big chunks of real blue cheese, cold lettuce, diced tomatoes and bacon. The tender meatloaf, baked in cupcake form with a sweet sauce and real, garlic-spiked mashed potatoes, is as delicious as all get-out. The burgoo is a dense, meaty stew.

Bones' Burgers

The food truck craze is for hipsters who follow their favorite truck on Twitter and stop by in between hearing the latest indie band and drinking craft beer, right?

It turns out the truth is perhaps a little more ... suburban. Many locals who have decided to invest in a food truck find success by parking at suburban office buildings’ parking lots and serving lunch to office workers. That’s what Bones’ Burgers does.

Somethin' Serious

There are lots of barbecue restaurants in this town, from hole-in-the-wall joints to fancy chains, and from good to bad. But there’s something about buying barbecue in a parking lot that gives the best ‘cue experience.

From Thursday-Saturday, Stewart and Mike Isaacs and their mother, Odessa, set up under a tent in the lot of an old gas station at Woolper and Vine in Clifton and sell ribs, chicken, burgers and sides.

Stewart is a Cincinnati police officer, Mike a quality engineer the rest of the week, but they do this for the love of it. They’re fun to talk to, as they sauce up ribs and chicken on their grills, which burn charcoal with some wood added for smoke. They use a distinctive spicy, sweet sauce.

Blue Ash Cafe

After you work out, you have to eat, right? The Blue Ash Cafe in the municipal recreation center offers healthy salads, real homemade soups, and sandwiches to those using the facilities.

But the rest of us can come in, too. I wouldn’t drive across town for it, but the salad I had there, with your choice of meats and everything else, was fresh and crisp (with a nice house dill dressing), the potato soup warm and delicious, and the room open and sunny.

Greco's

Isn’t it funny that a place named for Nicholas Longworth is also very ... long? The Longworth Hall building goes on forever.

Because the people who work there are way off in a corner of Downtown, they’re lucky they can lunch at Greco’s, located halfway down the building.

But it’s worth a trip for outsiders, too. I walk over from Elm Street, or you can drive and park in the long parking lot.

Order their green chile pork soup, which is amazing, or the chicken tinga tacos, a Chicago beef, or grill-roasted pizza, and a dish of tart yogurt with fruit. The room is decorated with fun street-art murals.